HENRY JEFFREYS – VINES IN A COLD CLIMATE. CHAIRED BY SAVILIAN PHILIP WRIGHT.

 A selection of English wines will be available on the wine List after the talk and will remain on the List until the end of February.

How did English wine go from a joke to world class in 30 years? In his critically-acclaimed book ‘Vines in a Cold Climate: the people behind the English wine revolution’ Henry Jeffreys lifts the lid on this fledgling industry meeting the men and women who ignored the doubters and thought it was really possible to make superlative wines in Essex, Sussex and all over southern England, from a one man outfit making exquisite chardonnays under a windmill in Cambridge to the Champagne giants like Taittinger who have invested millions in Kent. Along the way Jeffreys looks at the challenges facing English wine, looks ahead to what it might look like in 30 years and isn’t afraid to ask difficult questions like, just how good is most English wine?

Henry Jeffreys worked in the wine trade and publishing before becoming a freelance writer and broadcaster. At one point he was wine critic for The Lady, his work has also appeared in the Spectator, the Guardian,

the Oldie and BBC Good Food magazine.

He has been on BBC Radio 4, Radio 5 and Monocle Radio. His debut book Empire of Booze won a Fortnum & Mason award. Since then he has written The Home Bar (2018), The Cocktail Dictionary (2020) and Vines in a Cold Climate (2023). He currently works as features editor for the Master of Malt drinks blog.